


Luzia

by Glyphhunter



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coma, Fantasy, Gen, Healing, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Memory Loss, Near Death Experiences, Purgatory, Self-Acceptance, Spirit World, Spirits, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 04:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glyphhunter/pseuds/Glyphhunter
Summary: Keith doesn't know where he is. In fact, he barely even knows who he is. All he remembers is a voice and face and even those are fading. But there's one thing he knows for certain and it's that forests generally don't have three foot keys sticking out of the dirt.He's going to touch it.





	Luzia

Keith woke up slowly. It was a gradual gathering of thoughts that drifted with a dream-like quality, not making much sense individually but put together they made a little bit more sense. There was an echo of a voice in the back of his mind – calling his name? – but he couldn't put a face to it. He could barely put a name to it but he didn't remember who 'Shiro' was supposed to be or why he was important in the first place. He groaned and pressed his face in the grass beneath him, feeling slightly off about the whole thing but unable to come up with a reason why.

He heaved himself to his knees, the weight of his armour almost too heavy, then to his feet as he patted around his belt for his canister of water. If there was anything he could fix at that moment, it was the gross feeling of sleeping with his mouth open and his thirst. But the weight was wrong when he lifted it from his belt, too light, too easy to pull, and when he tipped it anyway, nothing but a few drops dripped onto his tongue.

Great.

He sighed and let his arm drop after he gave the canister a futile shake. Guess the first thing he'd have to do was find water. He idly twisted the cap back on as he looked around, barely glancing through the trees when something caught the corner of his eye.

There was... a key?

Glinting gold beneath the foliage about fifteen, twenty feet away, was what looked like an ornate key standing tall in the grass. Keith stared bewildered from the middle of the clearing, his empty canister loose in his hand. The shifting leaves made the wire thin vines and filigree leaves look animated, almost extending beyond the heart shaped border. He looked over his shoulder, scanned the circle of trees but it was the only thing there. No animals chattered in the branches, no insects hummed in the summer heat, just the key, waist high and enticing in its mystery.

He stepped closer, brushed his hand over the curved edge then jerked it away when it shifted under his touch.  The resulting creak echoed around the clearing, bounced off the trees and faded into the air. His eyes were wide as he stared at it. It had _turned_. His grip on his canister tightened as he clenched his hand into a fist, his mouth suddenly drier than before.

What happened if it kept turning?

He looked around the clearing again, at the trees and their red, red, leaves, at the yellowing grass and the small colourful flowers interspersed, and up at the orange sky as pink clouds drifted through. There was nothing else. He turned back to the key embedded in the dirt, slightly askew, and took a fortifying breath.

He didn't pull away when it shifted under his hand again, just waiting to be turned it seemed. He gripped it with both hands, his canister back on his belt, and turned it bodily until it suddenly pulled from his grasp. He staggered away from it, staring wide-eyed as it turned on its own. It creaked gently as it rotated, slightly off balance, and as he continued to watch it, entranced by the glinting gold, he started to hear a faint clicking in the air. Like an old clock tower before it chimed the quarter hour.

But it didn't beckon the ringing chimes of an old bell. A breeze filtered through the trees, sweet smelling and fresh, and the leaves rustled with it. The breeze picked up, turning into a gentle wind that took the leaves and the flower petals with it and still, the key kept turning. He kept watching until something like a breath brushed across the back of his neck and he turned in response, his hand raised to cover it in an instant, and was left gasping in disbelief.

Glittering blue eyes greeted him framed by dark skin and pale curls and a shining gold tiara. Pink lips curved in a smile that flashed white, white teeth before the woman was leaping back, bright broad wings reminiscent of a monarch spread on the growing wind. She floated on the air, slowly drifting downwards, and her toes barely touched the grass when the world seemed to _expand._

She leapt on each breath of wind, ever moving, ever graceful, the folds of her dress – her wings – stretching and pulling with each bound as she circled around him. Her eyes never left his as he turned once, thrice, how many?

And suddenly she was bounding down a path he hadn't seen – was it even there? – but Keith was chasing, unwilling to lose this wonder and before he knew it, he was keeping stride with a stallion as it loped beside him, its fire orange mane streaming in the wind. A velvet nose pressed at his cheek in the instant he wondered where it came from and he staggered. His heart leapt to his throat as his arm stretched out to catch, to brace. But his foot caught his ankle and he fell head over heel while the stallion kept running, while _she_ kept flying, and he ended on his back staring dazed at the pink wisps of cloud above.  

The wind continued to brush against Keith's skin, drifting lazily instead of the rush it had been and he took the moment to calm his racing heart. Birdsong carried between the trees as if it had always been there and combined with the soft hum of crickets in the grass, it was a welcome contrast to the near silence from before. He stared at the sky a few moments more, watching the birds fly between the trees more than anything else before he tried to get up again. He managed to sit up before he stopped and blinked at the strange sight suddenly in front of him.

A girl stood on the path. Tiny, almost bird-like in structure with thin limbs and a pointed face, but feathers coated her arms and her chest and the sides of her face in iridescent blue-violet and a tail twitched at her back. She cocked her head as he continued to stand slowly, chirped as he stayed silent. The crest on her head rose with her curiosity, displaying a gradient between brilliant pink and royal blue.  

“U-um,” he croaked and her crest dipped for a moment before she grinned widely and hurried forward. Her hand reached out, surprisingly not covered in tiny pinions but feathers stretched over from her wrist and nearly brushed his knees as her fingers beckoned. Keith looked between it and her face and she nodded once reassuringly before he reached out and took it. She pulled him to his feet with surprising strength and let him regain his balance before she stepped back.

_Come with me._

Keith nearly bit his tongue as he startled, his eyes darting side to side before they fell to the girl's amused grin.

_Don't be afraid._

Her lips moved, formed words, but he didn't recognize the shapes nor did he actually hear her voice as it seemed to place itself in his mind. He pulled his lip between his teeth, rolled it for a moment then sighed quietly, “Okay.”

_Thank you, Keith._

Her smile turned soft as Keith sucked in a surprised breath.

_My name is-_

The sound didn't translate, a chirping whistle that vibrated in his ears and Keith didn't have a hope in imitating it. “Um, hi,” he said eventually, his voice awkward to his own ears, and she laughed joyously. She didn't speak again, thankfully, the sense of her voice in his head unsettling. But she chirped to herself as she guided him through the forest, sometimes running ahead only to loop back and the rest walking calmly at his side.

Then again, maybe not to herself, he realized as he caught shadows that flitted between the trees. Chirps that he had thought belonged to her came from them instead, a constant communication, and he started to watch for them, wanting and waiting to see.

Another came out eventually, then another and another until he was surrounded by curious eyes and glittering feathers and he was forced to stop walking. Or maybe it was a collective thing because they'd seemed to reach another clearing without him paying attention and something in him berated himself for that. But it was a small voice, one that didn't have much impact as he reached out to the feathered people with a laugh and the chattering rose in excitement as their hands met his in mutual curiosity.

They, thankfully, weren't much shorter than him but it was still somewhat disarming to be suddenly manhandled by hands that grasped his arms and pressed at his back until he was sat in what functioned as a chair. He was practically embraced by roots and vines as he settled beneath the large tree, its shade surprisingly warm. He blinked, a little bit dazed as the crowd around him dispersed but the same girl that guided him sat at his side, recognizable by the crest on her head that only she seemed to bear. He watched her for a moment as she worked on a flowered vine in her lap before he scanned the rest of the new clearing.

It was wide and vibrant, a nexus surrounded by tall trees and draping vines and plants with wide leaves that grew in between. A large flat stump rested in the centre, mostly bare but for a few blossoms and surrounded by seeding grasses. And there were flowers everywhere, between the roots, between the leaves. Flowers he couldn't name and flowers he'd never seen, pinks and yellows and violets and everything was burnished an autumn gold by the sunset.

The other avians fluttered between each other and the trees, exchanging glittering stones and small gatherings of flowers and excited for what seemed to be the first time in a long time. One approached him with a series of whistles and what looked to be a large lily in their hands. The vibrant red on its waved edges faded into powder white in the centre and Keith swore it shined when the avian twisted it between their fingers. They held it out to him but before he could lift a hand to accept it, the girl plucked it from their grasp and started to twine the stem into the vine. The other's eyes widened before their hands covered their mouth and the squeal that attempted to escape.

They scurried off to energized murmurs as Keith slowly relaxed against the tree and tried to take in _everything_ . “Who _are_ you?” he asked, voice hushed and he didn't try to hide the wonder in it.

_We are-_

Another word that didn't translate but it came with a concept. A wish of peace and a desire to guide and be happy wrapped in a prayer of prosperity. The girl's focus didn't leave her work but her smile was faint, distant. Keith watched her with a frown then scanned the clearing and its inhabitants again. These beings were _old_ , he realized, ageless and timeless and somehow _trapped_. He turned to the girl again – the woman, really – where she'd looped the ends of her vine together into a ring.

“Can you tell me your name again?”

Her hands stopped and she stared at them for a moment before she looked over at him surprised. The chirping whistle came again but there was also the concept that came with it, something that he'd missed the first time around. She was the guiding light in the night sky, the beacon that meant safety. But she was also the fire that burned the heavens and fought to keep danger away. She was Protector and Defender and her wings spread to cover all her people.

“Aurora.”

She blinked at him, her eyes growing wider as her lips parted, the only sign of her jaw dropping.

“There's a phenomenon that happens where I'm from, far to the north. The sky will sometimes burn with colour, ribbons of green and occasionally red that will move across the sky and reach for the stars,” Keith told her. When she continued to stare, he flushed and stuttered, “I-it's not exactly the same but that's-,” he cleared his throat, “that’s what your name reminded me of.”

_Aurora._

She tested the name slowly and Keith nodded. Her gaze dropped to the ring in her hands and for a moment she did nothing. Then she reached up and without hesitation, plucked a glimmering feather from her crest. Keith made a sound in his throat as he sat forward and his hands jerked up in protest but she was undeterred.

_Be calm, Keith,_ she told him as she stood. The feather, slightly larger than the lily, was tucked neatly beside it and its soft fibres fluttered gently in the breeze. Its colours shifted between blue and deep pink as she turned the ring in her hands until she held it out to him and he realized it was a lot more than that. _Always wear this and know that Aurora will protect you._

He tore his gaze from the crown and met her determined eyes. They softened for a bare instant before she pressed her hands forward as she bowed her head slightly and Keith took the signal to do the same. His eyes closed as he leaned forward, his head bowed down and ever so gently, he felt the crown rest atop his head. He felt her hands as they moved to the sides of his face, her feathers brushing against his skin, and didn't resist when they pressed under his chin and guided his face up. A kiss was pressed to the top of his forehead, gentle and lingering and he sighed softly as the sense of safety embraced him.

_There are many things in this land and not all of them are good. You're a protector as much as I but this isn't your realm. Stay your course and you'll make it out safely; I'll help when I can._

Keith opened his eyes to night. Aurora was gone along with the rest of her people, a breath on the wind, but in the middle of the clearing on the stump was his water canister along with his pack, both probably having been divested from him earlier. He ran his fingers along the roots of the tree before he stood, a whisper of thanks on his lips as he stepped into the blue light of the full moon above him. The canister was heavy when he lifted it and the pack solid. A gift from a goddess, or at the very least, a queen.

He attached both back to his belt, tempted to partake but he knew he'd have to conserve and he wasn't absolutely desperate. Wherever he was, he wasn't where he was supposed to be and he had no idea how to get back. Wherever 'back' was. 'Stay your course,' Aurora had told him. But as he looked around the clearing, there was no other path than the one he'd come from. So he sighed to himself and he walked, let the moon guide him through the trees where its light touched the ground and trusted it to take him where he needed to go.

Eventually, a fog started to drift along the ground, sparse at first and only around his ankles. Then the clouds got bigger until Keith was walking through them bodily but he could still see the moon through the leaves and he continued undeterred. There was something else though that he only noticed while he was in the fog. It was a noise, low, almost constant actually once he listened for it but was louder when the clouds passed over his head.

It was a voice, soft and melodic and vaguely familiar, like something he used to hear in his dreams. He let himself stop as the fog covered him completely and let himself hear. A woman was singing in the distance and the more Keith listened, the more the song pulled from his memory. A lullaby his mother used to sing before she left. One she would sing when he was sad; one they would dance to on a rainy day. He was mouthing the words before he realized, a once forgotten song found and revitalized, and then he was moving, running. He chased the song – the voice of his mother – and he didn't realize when he left the path of the moon and the fog swallowed everything in sight.

He followed the voice even when the ground seemed invisible, spurred onward by a blurry memory and a desperate need that filled his veins. Somehow she was there in the strange world where birds were people and keys summoned butterfly spirits. She was there and he could see her again. He could see her smile, hear her voice and feel her kisses upon his forehead. She could love him again like no one else-

The ground dropped from under him, lost in the milk white of the fog, and though Keith reached there was nothing for him to grab. No roots brushed his fingers and nothing caught on his feet. His breath locked in his throat and he couldn't see his hands as the white of his armour blended with the world around him. He fell, dropped from something that seemed impossibly high and as the wind whipped his hair from his face he was suddenly very aware. With a panicked gasp, he caught the wreath of flowers as it left his head; kept it clutched tight between his fingers.

He was stupid, a goddamn idiot. 'Stay your course,' Aurora had said, but he'd left the safety of the moon a long time ago, tempted by the siren's call, and now he was tumbling downwards with no end in sight with the voice a mocking echo in his ears. Keith stared wide-eyed at the blank expanse before him, something like a whine escaping his throat where he couldn't get enough force to actually scream. All he could see was white and something in him clutched at that impossibility.

_Wasn't it supposed to be night?_

He was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees, but their shadows didn't loom over him. They didn't darken the fog as they covered the moon. They didn't swallow the light and leave him in black. If he was falling, how was it so _bright?_

His next breath was ragged and tore at his throat, a fight between wanting to scream and wanting to breathe. Lights flashed in his eyes, somehow brighter than the white he'd been falling through – _was still falling through?_ – was he still falling? He couldn't tell anymore. His head pounded, unrelenting and unforgiving and he writhed against the floor – there was a floor now? – to try and alleviate some of the pressure. But something pressed against his chest, pressed him back down, and he panicked. He lashed out, tried to punch whatever it was away but his fists hit air and when he went to grab the thing on his chest, there was nothing for him to take.

He tried to open his eyes. If he could see, everything would be better, but the light was still blinding and it left spots no matter where he looked. There was a shadow, though, between them. It was large and loomed over him in a poor mimicry of the forest he was supposed to be in. And there was a voice. A different voice, not his mother, male. Someone was yelling – the shadow, maybe – and a hand touched his face. Two hands, actually, more present than the weight on his chest and he gasped as his eyes flew wide. The shadow cleared as the lights dimmed and revealed a familiar face, desperate though it was. His mouth moved but Keith couldn't hear him, couldn't understand the muted words.

He sucked in another ragged breath and his throat burned.

“Shi-”

“Hey.”

Keith jerked awake with a pounding heart and a name on the tip of his tongue that wouldn't come back no matter how hard he tried. He gasped at the sky, deep blue and cloudless and edged by the tallest cliff face he'd ever seen. Had he fallen from that?

“Hey.”

He tensed and flipped around, managed to pull himself mostly upright even though everything hurt, and came face to face with two people. Twins, if he had to hazard a guess, and they watched him with equal parts curiosity and caution. With brown hair cut around their ears and amber eyes, dressed in matching sand-coloured gear that only showed parts of their pale faces, they mirrored each other as they crouched near where he'd lain. The left one reached down, reached for the wreath of flowers between their feet but Keith lunged forward, heart in his throat, and snatched it away before their fingers could do no more than brush the petals.

They both backed away together but where the left's eyes went wide, the right's narrowed and Keith saw a brief flash of pointed teeth before the left one elbowed their partner in the side.

“Sorry to startle you,” they said – he or she, Keith couldn't tell. They both settled more comfortably on their heels as they kept level with him and made sure their hands were visible. Not there to hurt him then. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he said after a moment. He was sore all over and he was pretty sure he'd pulled something in his leg but unless they had painkillers hidden away somewhere, there wasn't much they could do.

“Good,” the left one sighed in relief, “you're the one that named the Princess, aren't you?” Keith frowned in confusion.

“He's also the one that almost got trapped by the Mire,” the right cut in with a sharp glare then pinned him with a frown. “Didn't she tell you to be careful?”

Keith turned the circle of flowers in his hands until it was the right way and gently replaced it as he finally stood. Yeah, he definitely pulled something. “Are you talking about Aurora?” he asked as the pair followed his action. The one on the right was slightly taller, something that would help tell them apart, Keith was thankful to find.

“Is there anyone else around here that got Named recently?”

There was something to be said about the fact that Keith could feel his own scowl with how hard it was. The nice one elbowed their partner again as Keith blew a cooling breath and shook some of his hair out of his face.

“Whatever,” the rude one waved a hand as they seemed to take that as an answer and turned on their heel, “let's go, we can't leave you in the sun forever.” Then they were striding away while the nice one smiled somewhat apologetically and followed after. Keith raised a brow, more to himself than anyone else, and was quick to fall into stride with them.

“So, where are we?” he asked after a few moments of just the sound of their footsteps. Looking around, it was almost like he'd ended up back home. The air was hot where he could feel it against his face and the ground stretched out flat far into the horizon, dotted with sparse trees, shrubs, and various cacti. Very clearly a desert. But aside from the cliff at their backs, there was no sign of the canyons that surrounded his home.

“We're coming up on Flores,” the nice one answered and really, he was just going to call them Nice going forward. The other one was Rude. Nice’s arm stretched forward to point out the hazy shadow in the distance. “It's... much smaller than it used to be, but still,” they shrugged and gave him a timid smile, “it's home.” Keith could understand that.

“And,” he paused, unsure if it would be rude or not to ask then decided to press on anyway, “what does being 'Named' mean?” He could almost feel the need for a capital. Nice's smile became softer before it fell away completely and Keith opened his mouth to apologize, take it back, tell them they didn't have to answer.

“Nobody remembers the last time someone was Named,” Rude said before Keith could. “When we wake up here, we don't remember anything that came before until one day, we disappear. Being Named means being blessed with memory and purpose. So tell me,” Rude turned towards them and stopped, rocked on their heels a bit as Keith and Nice stopped too. “How much do you actually remember and how much have you forgotten?”

Keith blinked at them then looked at Nice but they were watching him with a concerned, almost sad look in their eyes and Keith swallowed thickly. “I remember my name,” he told them slowly, “I remember my home in the desert surrounded by canyons. I remember my mother and the song she used to sing when I was small. I remember being little and going to school everyday. I remember Sh-” He frowned as he trailed off. There was a face and a name. “I remember Shi-” He glared at the ground, why wouldn't it come to him?

“What do you remember about this?” Nice placed their hand on his chest, on the red accent that spanned across white, and he met their gaze, confused.

“I don't-” Keith froze and, as he looked between them with wide eyes, he got it. He didn't remember the armour. He didn't remember how he got it and he didn't remember what it was for. _He couldn't remember that name._ How long could he stay there before he forgot everything and became one of them?

His breath shuddered out of him and Nice smiled reassuringly.

“It's fine for now,” they said and their hand moved up to pat his cheek, “you can still remember things even if it's not what you want to right now. You still have time.”

“Time, right,” he managed to say around his suddenly thick tongue. Then Rude made a noise, almost like the one that Aurora had made when she introduced herself but it was rougher, not bird-like in the least, and Nice turned obediently.

“Yes, yes,” they sighed and beckoned Keith to follow as they both started walking again.

When Nice pointed it out, Keith thought Flores was a lot further than it actually turned out to be. But ten minutes later, when the ground dipped down, the shadows turned out to be dark rooftops and he realized that Flores was built into a dried up oasis. People milled in the centre, also dressed in the same sand-coloured gear, and as they approached, Keith realized they were preparing something. The people carried something between them that they attached to the ring of tall trees in the middle. It created a drooping barrier, a more defined wall and Keith wondered silently what was going to happen within it.

They were noticed halfway down the slope and someone rushed up to meet them. Someone, strangely, not dressed in the same getup as everyone else but only in a skin tight bodysuit that seemed to soak up the light. Their hair was the same golden brown just long and bound in a braid, their eyes the same honey amber, but their face was slightly different,older, and they were significantly taller when they met up on somewhat even footing.

“Hurry, hurry,” they were urging before they'd even reached them, though, “the sun's nearing its zenith and you still have to get _changed_.” Nice and Rude were both pulled away by the wrist which left Keith to trail behind until they were thrust into a house at the bottom and the door slammed shut behind them. The impatient one turned to him then and pinned him with a scrutinizing eye. “You're the one that Named the Princess.”

“Y-yes,” Keith nodded and didn't fight when they bodily turned him and led him towards the edge of the trees.

“Your presence here can't hurt then,” they said from behind him, “you'll have to take this off though.” They tapped the shoulder of his armour and Keith hoped they only meant the plating. “You can drop it off in there but be quick, it's almost time.” Keith followed the pointed the finger to another house where the door was ajar because someone just left. He nodded his understanding then was left alone as they went off to finish the preparations with the others.

“Wow,” he breathed to himself as he jogged across the way, fingers already working the latches of his bracers. Talk about pushy.

He managed to get everything off quick enough, he thought but as he stepped out in only his black suit, he heard the sound he couldn't hear inside and saw the trio in the centre of the trees. A low hum had filled the air coming from the rest of the villagers spread near the walls and somewhere within them, a woman was singing. More than one maybe given how strong the sound was but they were all in sync and Nice and Rude were moving smoothly with it.

They were dancing, a slow flowing piece that had their new outfits, almost shadow-like, drifting behind them like an afterthought and they circled the edge of the trees directly opposite to each other. The tall one stayed stationary in the centre, head bowed and limbs close, waiting. Nice and Rude never stopped, their movements perfectly timed as they circled, and circled, and circled, perfectly mirroring each other, and Keith was mesmerized.

He jumped when something cracked the air, almost like thunder, and the three of them dropped the same instant the singing stopped. Keith's heart leapt to his throat and he almost ran forward but in the next instant they were up again, rising with the swell of the woman's voice and suddenly everything was _more_ . Nice and Rude were twisting and spinning but the third, the leader he supposed, was floating upwards as if held by the waist. But nothing was there to support them, nothing that he could _see_ anyway.

As soon as they were clear, Nice and Rude crossed beneath them so close that Keith's breath caught. Then they were apart and twisting around the outer edge before they curved back in again. The woman's voice got more powerful the longer the pair wound around the ring and the leader was still in the air, still limp it looked like, and Keith swallowed back the bile that bubbled in the back of his throat.

Please, someone tell him this wasn't going to be a sacrifice.

There was another crash of almost thunder and the low hum stopped but the woman's voice still rang high and clear. A single note that echoed in the valley of the oasis. A chill ran down Keith's spine and he sucked in a cold breath before his eyes went wide. It was _cold_ in the middle of the desert _._ Nice and Rude were unmoving in the centre, their arms raised high above their heads and palms flat. And their leader-

Wasn't dead, thankfully. Keith sighed in relief as they righted themselves with a flourish and a visible ripple in the air. It took a few moments after for Keith to realize the singing had faded away and that everything had gone unnaturally still. The sun was still bright as it beat down on the valley but there was a strange energy to the air. Electric, like the instant before lightning struck the ground and let the earth tremble.

There was an actual storm brewing.

The thought came to him gradually and all at once but from one second to the next, in the span of a blink, he knew it to be real. It was a _rain dance_ , pure and simple. And there was something else he realized as he continued to stare at the leader's suspended form. Like an image superimposed or a trick of the light, there was something that extended from their back. It shifted in and out of focus as the leader slowly sank back towards the ground. Back towards Nice and Rude who were still in the same spot, same position and stared upwards with desperate anticipation.

But Keith didn't see them anymore, caught by familiar enticing blue framed with shining pale curls and a hand that reached towards him, beckoning. Her wings blocked out the sun, left Flores under the dim shade of a storm, and his mouth was dry as he reached back.

He felt the touch from the tips of his fingers to his toes and his breath froze in his lungs as sound returned with a crashing boom, a blinding flash, and _cold_.

_Keith, Keith, you gotta wake up, buddy. There’s only so many times I can do this._

He couldn’t breathe. There was a tightness in his throat and something heavy on his chest. He tried to reach up but his arms were too heavy and his fingers had gone numb. He gasped the thin amount of air he could and it burned like a fire under his skin.

_Oh, thank god. That’s it, Keith, you can do it. All you have to do is breathe, just breathe._

That voice was back, the one with the familiar face and a name Keith couldn’t remember. He tried to find him in the dark, reached out with unfeeling fingers but they still wouldn’t cooperate and all he could do was keep trying to breathe.

_You’ll be okay, I promise. Just keep breathing. Keep breathing for me buddy, please._

It was so dark. Darker than anything he’d ever seen. It was shadows on shadows and trying to hear was like hearing under water. There was a roaring in his ears, his heart as it pounded and his own breath as it whistled in his throat. He was trapped and he didn’t think he could escape.

_Keith? Keith! C’mon, Keith, stay with me! You’ve already made it this far, you can’t give up now._

But the voice was still there, somehow.  A quiet steady murmur under everything else and try as he might, he still couldn’t understand it. He took comfort in it though, let it wrap around his psyche as he struggled to breathe. It calmed his heart until its drum wasn’t nearly as loud and the roar in his ears faded to a dull rush.

_I’m right here, Keith, just stay with me, please! We’re almost home._

The air still burned, though, kept fighting every breath to the point where he was tempted to stop. He wanted to let go, give up, throw in the towel. But then he wouldn’t be able to hear the voice and he knew the only way that was possible was to keep breathing.

_Just keep breathing._

Keep breathing, he told himself through the fire, keep breathing, _keep_ breathing, _keep breathing._

He gasped.

“Shiro!”

“Afraid not, I’m sorry.”

Keith gasped in humid air as he sat up and looked wildly around the room. It was small, cluttered, absolutely _filled_ with plants aside from the bed he was on, and in the centre at a low-set table sat a large man covered in furs with a simple wooden bowl. Keith stared as he tried to calm his racing heart from the inexplicable sense that he couldn’t breathe two seconds ago.

A stylized lion mask was tied to the side of his head by a yellow ribbon which kept parts of his dark hair out of his brown face and dark eyes watched him curiously, patiently. Keith’s throat ached and he swallowed to try and soothe it only to double over coughing. There was a soft sigh followed by rustling and a hand pressed against his back, large and warm and soothing as it rubbed a line down his spine.

“Here,” the man offered and held a cup of water in front of him, also made of wood. Keith took it with one shaking hand as the man braced it by the bottom and managed to sip it between coughs. He moaned when the water washed over his tongue, pure and clean, almost sweet and Keith wanted more. He shifted, tried to tip the cup more but the man tightened his grip with a laugh and gently pulled it away.

“Easy,” he chided, ignoring Keith’s whine and following mortified flush, “you’re dehydrated. Drink any faster and it’s going to come right back up.”

“R-right,” Keith nodded and looked at the cup again, eager. He knew that, of course he did. It was practically common sense not to mention part of the training at the… the… Keith frowned as the man brought the water close again and allowed him a few more sips.

“What are you thinking?” the man asked when he pulled the cup away and Keith still couldn’t help the draw to follow even though he knew better.

“I-I keep forgetting,” he admitted once he’d resettled, “there was somewhere where I learned survival but I can’t remember what it was called or even where it was. And there’s also a name that I keep trying to remember, like it’s on the tip of my tongue but I just can’t get it out. I don’t even know his face but I know his voice and I can’t remember his name.” He reached for the cup and the man allowed it, even allowed bigger sips, and Keith was the one to pull away after.

“Shiro?” the man guessed and Keith blinked up at him.

“Shiro,” Keith tested, practically rolled it on his tongue as he thought of the voice in his dreams, “Shiro. _Shiro._ ” And it seemed to click in his mind as his hands slapped at his leg and he turned to grab the man’s arm. “Yes. Yes! Shiro!” How could he have forgotten? How did- “How did you know?”

“You woke up shouting it,” the man shrugged and smiled, “I’m glad you remembered though, not many here do.” He offered Keith the cup which Keith took between both hands and that was when he noticed the claws that tipped the man’s fingers. Nobody in this realm were completely human, were they?

The man, more lion like than Keith first thought with the claws and the fur and the mask, gave him a pat on the shoulder before he stepped away. Keith watched as he walked around the table, brushing various plants as he went. A fern-like one wrapped around his wrist with its leafy fingers, and the man stopped to whisper to it. Keith expected it to let go but instead the stem broke near the base and the plant wrapped fully around the man’s arm.

“Um,” Keith couldn’t help but voice as the man carried on towards the counters with his new decoration. He got a wave and an unconcerned smile in return.

“This one wants to help,” he explained as if Keith would understand what that meant. “You have a pulled muscle in your leg and shoulder and bruises all over. This will help soothe the pain and let you heal faster.”

“Oh.” Keith leaned back against the wall with the cup in his lap as the man turned and laid the plant on the counter. From that angle, the lion mask looked like it was smiling at him. Soft yellows and browns gave off a welcoming feel and Keith was glad someone else didn’t find him while he was out. It made him wonder where Nice and Rude were, though, and where he was in particular because the last thing he remembered was Flores in the desert.

He brought the cup to his lips and drank the last of the water and when he lowered it, he was surprised to find more water filling the bottom.  He brought it up again, tempted to see if it would keep refilling after he drank it.

“Don’t go too crazy with that,” the man said but from what Keith could tell, he didn’t actually look at him. Even still, he lowered the cup and stared at the water swirling at the bottom.

“Where are we anyway?” Keith asked after a few quiet moments of the man gently working the plant. From what he could tell, judging by the types of plants and the sheer humidity even with the windows and door mostly closed, they were in some kind of jungle. The man shifted and the lion mask tilted to form a bigger smile.

“This is Cierra Los Alma,” the man said, “Cierra for short but some call it Alma. A lot of people come here for help.” Keith hummed and sipped at the cup again. A medicine man, then.

“The two that I met in Flores, did they bring me here?” The man looked at him though he kept up the even motions with his pestle. His expression was mostly blank but there was something searching in his eyes.

“Two children of the sand brought you to my forest, if that’s what you mean,” he said, “and if you came from Flores then you’ve traveled a long way, friend. Flores is on the far side, closer to the Mire and almost two days travel across the sand. You must have done something grand for them to do that for you.” He paused as he considered a thought. Keith shifted on the bed, slightly uncomfortable but he kept the cup loose in his hands and his expression open.

“Did you Name them?” the man asked as his hands finally rested in their motions.

Keith hesitated. “I guess?” He wondered how valid his own thoughts were. “I don’t think I ever said it to their faces but I was calling them Nice and Rude in my head.” And saying it out loud made his naming abilities seem really pathetic. He flushed and looked away, his grip on the cup tight. “Maybe I should have thought of better names.”

“Are you kidding?” the man questioned as he reached into a drawer for something then came back around the table. “Being Named is like being given the gift of life, especially when it captures the essence of who you give it to. And besides,” the man pulled the thin sheet away and settled himself at the foot of the bed while Keith pulled his legs out of the way, “the children of the sand are a people that appreciate blunt honesty. Hiding the meanings of their names under fancy letters probably wouldn’t have taken as well. I need you to get undressed.”

“What?” Keith blinked at the sudden topic change and the man gestured with the bowl of medical paste and bandages in his hands. Keith looked down at the black suit he was wearing. “Oh. Right. Um.” He handed the cup over and started working at the zippers and hooks while the man put it aside. A thought occurred to him as he was peeling the suit back over his arms and legs and his numerous bruises came to light.

“How did you know I was hurt in the first place?” he asked because the suit covered him from neck to toe. There wasn’t any sign that someone had tried to undress him before.

“They told me.” The man pointed to a shelf above his head and Keith looked up to see the feather of his crown peaking over the edge.

“My crown?” The man was nodding when he looked back and Keith kicked the last of the suit off his foot to drop on the floor. “So the plants just… talk to you?”

“They talk to everyone,” the man shrugged and his mask swayed gently against his head, “I just talk back.” Keith nodded slowly as he offered his right arm and gentle fingers turned it over to start applying the salve. “After this, I’m going to bring you to a friend of mine. Or a couple of friends, really. They should be able to help you find where you’re supposed to go.”

“Thanks,” Keith said quietly then hissed as the man pressed his fingers against a particularly sensitive bruise. There was a wordless apology where he grunted and shifted his grip. “To be honest, I feel like I’m forgetting more than I should be.”

The man hummed. “The thing about forgetting is that you don’t remember how much you had in the first place. A lot of people here don’t realize that before they fade. Instead you should focus on what you do remember,” he tilted his head as he twisted Keith’s arm the other way and as a result, the lion mask seemed to wink at him. “So answer me this, what _do_ you remember?”

“I remember Shiro,” Keith said immediately as his back straightened to attention, “I didn’t before but I do now. I remember him and there was a school that we met at in the same desert as my home. I remember,” he frowned and squinted into the middle distance, “a war? We were fighting - are fighting? I don’t-”

“Don’t fight it,” the man interrupted as he pulled a length of cloth and wrapped it twice around Keith’s arm, “you can’t force it or it won’t be a memory at all.”

“Right,” Keith sighed as he let his arm fall to his lap, the bandage secure around the salve. “I remember a war but I don’t know who was with me or who it was against but I do know I was part of a team.” He shook his head, “Am part of, I am part of a team.” He tilted his head and wondered why that was so important. He leaned closer as the man reached for his shoulder with fingers full of goop. The bruise there was the largest, its ache spreading down his back and over his collarbone.

“So you have people to go back to.” The lion mask seemed to be staring at him entirely. The smile was still there but less emphasised. Keith’s attention was drawn to the eyes made wider by the shadows. It wasn’t a question but Keith nodded all the same.

“Yes.”

When the man said they were leaving after they were done patching him up, Keith expected to wait another twenty to thirty minutes, maybe an hour. But no, he meant immediately, as soon as he’d gotten his blacksuit back on and collected what meagre belongings he still had. That only consisted of his crown really, but it was his and he wasn’t letting go of it. It made him long for his knife which then made him stop and wonder what importance a knife even had in the first place to miss it. But still, he added it to the tally of Things Remembered and resolved to never forget it again.

Aside from that, the lion man was leading him through the jungle with even steps as plants bowed out of the way. Keith learned quickly if he trailed too far behind, they would start cutting him off as they went back in place. He also realized that he didn’t have as much energy as he first thought. Sitting in bed didn’t take much, it turned out.

Keeping up with the man’s pace though had started to become exhausting and as loathed as he’d like to admit it, Keith needed a break pretty soon. He was still sore all over and if he stepped wrong, the muscle in his leg protested painfully.

“Hey,” he reached out for the man’s arm just as his toe caught on a root and he crashed to the ground with a sharp cry.

“Oh, shit, sorry! I’m sorry!” Immediately the man was on him, his large hands helping Keith back to his feet but his leg didn’t want to carry his weight anymore and Keith gripped the man’s furs to keep from dropping on his face again. “I’m sorry, I forgot,” the man continued to apologize as he backed Keith up to sit on a root that seemed to appear out of nowhere. “I’m not used to people that aren’t spirits anymore. Do you need water? Here, have more water.”

It wasn’t exactly what Keith needed but he took it all the same. It was the same cup as before with its seemingly endless supply and the lion man took it back once he’d drained it. What he needed was to sleep. His eyes were heavy and he wanted nothing more than to just lay back on the root and pass out. The lion man was having none of it.

“Hey, look at me,” he patted Keith on the cheek then held his face between his hands when Keith went to rest his head. “Look at me,” he shook Keith gently and Keith blinked at him with a frown. “Do you think you can make it the rest of the way?”

Keith didn’t even know how far it was. He shook his head. He was too tired. His leg hurt too much.

“Okay,” the man nodded and his lion mask slid forward to cover part of his face. Keith swayed when the man let go and pulled the mask fully over his face. “I’ll carry you the rest of the way, don’t worry,” he said. There was a ripple of fur and when Keith blinked, a lion was crouched in front of him.

He stared for a moment then decided he was already asleep and dreaming. Whatever, he’d go with it. “On your back?” he questioned, already reaching for the mane to brace himself and the lion crouched lower to help him climb on. He was warm, almost too warm for being in the jungle but Keith couldn’t move on his own anymore.

“Rest,” the man’s voice rumbled through him and Keith buried his face in his mane. He twined his fingers through the long fur and focused on keeping his balance as the man rose from his crouch. “I will wake you when we arrive.”

Keith didn’t have the wherewithal to answer as he felt sleep pull at his senses. The lion’s pace was even and smooth as he swayed from side to side. He could hear his heartbeat through his fur and feel it in his hands and the sounds of the jungle became white noise in his ears.

He was drifting, an even sway as voices murmured on his peripheral. And he was warm, almost feverishly so, but something cool ran along the sides of his face and through his hair and if he concentrated enough, he could almost make sense of what was being said. Something about… a fight? Information?

Pain spiked through his head and he hissed a breath through his teeth. The voices went silent and Keith was almost disappointed but the silence was even better when mixed with the cold and the headache that was beginning to form faded away. But then that was going away too and Keith groaned as he tried to reach out for it.

His numb fingers ran into something solid, something decidedly not cold and he decided that maybe opening his eyes might be a good plan. At least to bring the cold back. Except the light made everything worse and Keith could not remember regretting anything more. His breath locked in his chest, torn between wanting to shout and gasp and really, with the pain that now bombarded his head, Keith could not have made a worse decision.

The voices were back. Or just one voice really that spoke in a level tone but Keith couldn’t understand a word. Not with his heart now pounding in his ears and his breath hissing in his throat. Hot and cold pressed against his face and on instinct he pressed closer to the side that cooled the fever in his veins.

“I’m here, Keith.”

Keith gasped as his eyes snapped open and for an instant, with stark clarity, he saw Shiro. Then the image morphed, like water over glass and Keith was left staring at a man that could be Shiro’s twin as they stood in a pool of water. Keith swayed, suddenly light-headed, but the man had a grip on his arms and he steadied Keith until he was able to stand straight on his own.

“You,” Keith gasped then coughed as his voice cracked. “You look like him. You look like Shiro.”

The man blinked at him for a moment before his eyes widened, the same grey black as Shiro’s but his face was unmarred and his hair still completely black. Not to mention it was long enough to rest over his shoulders. He didn’t say anything though, just held Keith steady in the pool of water and Keith was starting to think he’d said something wrong.

“So you actually do remember stuff,” someone else said, not the Shiro lookalike, and Keith turned to see who it was. Another man was there, draped over the back of the lion man, still in lion form, and he watched Keith with unabashed curiosity. His eyes were bright, an electric blue that almost seemed to glow with internal light and Keith was slightly unnerved by the fact they were slitted. Iridescent blue-green scales surrounded his eyes in the shape of a mask and they shifted like skin when he grinned and flashed sharp fangs.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s mute,” he said as he waved a clawed hand at the Shiro lookalike, “I’m here to act as his translator. Nice to meet you!” He wiggled his fingers, flashing a scaleless palm as a greeting and Keith looked at the man who still had a hold on his arms. He nodded his own greeting as he took a step back and let go.

“Um, hi,” he said as he looked around at the three of them. “You’re… not who I imagined when the lion man said friends. You’re very...”

“Beautiful, amazing, inspiring?” the scaled man listed, “Option D, all of the above?” Then he winked and Keith’s brow ticked.

“You’re irritating,” he said and all the other man did was laugh. Keith huffed then looked down at the pool of water. “Is there a reason I’m soaking wet?”

“You were fading pretty hard there, dude,” the scaled man said as he slid off the lion man’s back with snake-like grace. As he stood, Keith realized that the scales covered practically everything aside from the short brown hair on top of his head and thin lines along the insides of his limbs where brown skin peaked through. “Tia there had to bring you back so you wouldn’t die.” That made Keith pause.

“Since when was I dying?” he asked, incredulous to the core and the snake man - Keith couldn’t think of any other descriptor - tilted his head as he raised a thin brow.

“You don’t know? Dude, the only reason you’re here is _because_ you’re dying,” he stated and Keith was thankful that the other guy, Tia, he thought the snake-man called him, was there to brace his back as he swayed on the spot. “That isn’t to say that you can’t go back eventually,” he continued, “but if you go back too soon then you’ll die for sure.”

Keith swallowed hard as he tried to wrap his head around that fact. “So, what do I do then?” he asked, “Just wait? Sit pretty until I receive some signal from the sky that it’s okay to ‘go back’, as you put it?”

“Psh, no,” the man waved a dismissing hand, “if only it were that easy. You gotta-” He sputtered to a stop and glared over Keith’s shoulder at Tia. “I wasn’t!” He stomped his foot and Keith turned his head only to see Tia smiling serenely at him.

“We can point you in the right direction but you gotta take the journey on your own,” the snake man said as he crossed his arms, “which is what I was _going_ to say before you so rudely interrupted me.” Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow and the lion man snorted a laugh.

“You aren’t fooling anyone,” he said as he lowered himself to lay on the ground and rested his head on his paws. The snake man huffed.

“All I’m trying to do is give a little bit of advice. Isn’t that the reason you brought him to us in the first place?”

“Advice, yes. Breaking the realm, no.”

The snake man sighed and let his arms drop. “Whatever, fine. You,” he pinned Keith with his gaze and Keith found himself backing up into Tia’s chest. “Keep that crown. The moment you Named Aurora, you gave it power and it’s the only thing keeping you from the eyes of the Mire.” Keith sucked in a breath as the name rang in his head.

“What is that, anyway? When I met Nice and Rude, they said I almost got trapped by it but all I remember is a forest and fog.” The snake man blinked then turned to the lion who had raised his head and was staring at Keith with wide eyes.

“You crossed the Mire already?” he asked and a second later his form was shifting back to his more human shape as he got up and waded into the pool. He shoved his mask to the side of his head then took Keith by the shoulders. “You crossed the Mire and you’re still here?”

“I guess?” Keith shrugged as much as he could. “I mean, I don’t remember much of it. Just singing mostly. I thought I heard my mom.”

The lion man blinked and turned to his friend on the shore who was watching in equal disbelief. A sound rumbled through him that ended with a hiss between his teeth and the snake man nodded, almost distracted. Then he blinked and seemed to shake himself out of his daze before he nodded more firmly. Keith’s heart leapt into his throat.

“Trade,” the snake man said as he stepped into the water and the lion man moved away. If Keith thought his eyes were glowing before, they certainly were now along with a pattern down his scales. At first, Keith thought they were stripes but they shifted as the man moved into spots then back into stripes and were his eyes getting brighter? Keith couldn’t look away as the snake man drew closer, his light of blue hypnotizing as it reflected off the water almost to the point where the water itself was glowing.

Or maybe the water actually was glowing, all of the blues and greens shifting together in one mesmerizing dance and wow, he was really close, wasn’t he? How were they not touching? Keith couldn’t find it in him to back away, every muscle in his body loose. Surprisingly warm hands pressed against the sides of his face as electric blue took up his vision and a soft voice murmured in his ear.

_Sleep._

He nodded, his eyes already heavy. Sure, he could sleep again. He could sleep for days, actually.

_Sleep._

He wasn’t going to argue. Sleeping was great when he was actually able.

_Sleep._

Keith sighed and fell.

Except… it wasn’t really falling. More like floating on the edge of awareness as voices whispered unintelligibly in his ears and feather light touches brushed his skin. It was familiar, comforting, and the more he focused on that feeling, the more he became aware of someone next to him. It started with soft breaths and the occasional hitch as they shifted and settled. Then there was warmth as fingers came to rest on his wrist for a time before leaving.

Keith wanted to follow it but he couldn’t find the strength. So he went back to drifting and eventually the soft breaths went away. That was fine. It was still cozy. Still warm. He was content to coast with this thoughts for a while.

He didn’t know how long it was before the breathing came back. He hadn’t been counting. It was nice, though, to have them next to him again. He hadn’t been expecting it. And they didn’t stay quiet this time either and Keith found he liked the way their voice sounded. There was an energy to it, almost contagious and Keith wanted to talk back.

But his tongue was too heavy and he still couldn’t find the strength. Eventually the fingers also came back, a gentle press against his wrist and for a moment, the voice died off. But Keith could still hear them breathing even if there was a careful measure to it, almost like counting. Then they both left, the fingers and the breathing, and Keith was disappointed.

Waiting for them to come back felt longer than last time but maybe that was the anticipation talking. It was anticipation that let him hear the hiss of the door and their steps even if he still couldn’t open his eyes. The voice was different though. Or maybe he was starting to tell the difference because a part of him knew that there had to be more than just him and one other person wherever he was.

Either way, he would enjoy them while they were there even if he couldn’t understand a word they said. They filled the silence he was slowly becoming more aware of and he almost dreaded when they would leave again. When they took his wrist and began to count after what could’ve been hours or minutes, he wanted to take their hand. He wanted to hold them there, tell them not to leave. But all he managed was a bare twitch just as their fingers moved away and their voice left the room after saying goodbye.

So Keith settled to wait again because he knew someone would be back. And maybe he could tell that one not to leave him alone in the silence of his room. Because it was actually really quiet aside from his own breathing. Which was a thing, he came to realize, being able to hear himself. He wasn’t sure when it started but he could separate himself from the general ambiance of the room.

There wasn’t much, admittedly, aside from a low hum that took a lot out of him to actually hear. It was progress, though towards what, he didn’t know. Towards communicating? Sure, he’d go with that. He’d like to talk to whoever it was that came to sit with him. Ask them for a hug, maybe. Or another blanket even, he was getting cold.

But one thing was nagging at the edge of his consciousness the more aware he got. Like something was missing - or was misplaced a better term? He got the sense that he’d left something behind and he really needed to remember what it was so he could pick it up. But despite how hard he tried, Keith couldn’t recall. He was searching through a haze for something undefined.

It frustrated him.

It frustrated him enough that he didn’t notice he had company again until they suddenly shouted and he jumped from the shock.

It hurt.

A lot.

Keith groaned and strained against the bed as he tried to relieve the pain that took over him. The muscles in his back and legs spasmed, absolutely unwilling to move and his arms twitched at his sides.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” they - she? It sounded like… like… “I wasn’t expecting you to be awake. Let me just,” she cut herself off and something beeped off to the side. Seconds later the pain faded like a wave and Keith was left gasping.

He blinked his eyes open, surprised he could even do that and turned his head to see who it was that just shocked the hell out of him. Wide amber eyes behind large frames greeted him full of worry and tears and as soon as their eyes connected she all but lunged for him. Her arms wrapped around him as much as she could manage and she didn’t hold back the sobs.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she cried as Keith blinked at the ceiling, “we were all so scared and I swear to god if you ever do something like that again, I will personally taze you to the end of your life. Information is not worth your life, no matter what, do you hear me?” She drew back and held him by the shoulders. “ _Nothing is worth your life._ ” Her hands shook with her words and Keith nodded automatically.

Nevermind the fact that he had no idea what she was talking about.

She didn’t seem to notice his general confusion though as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a radio. Which actually threw him for a loop for a moment but he wasn’t sure what else he could’ve been expecting. “Guys, he’s awake,” she spoke into the device and for a moment there was silence as she waited. Her eyes never left him, her watery stare firm as if she wanted to make sure he stayed. Then there was an explosion of sound as more than one person shouted back and Pidge turned the volume off.

Keith paused. “You’re Pidge,” he said and it was her turn to pause. There was a flash of confusion but it didn’t take her long to figure out the problem.

“Oh no,” she said lowly and scrambled for the door. Or the unit next to the door and it wasn’t until Keith heard the pounding that he realized that she’d locked it. Right. That was a thing that Pidge did. She came back to his side but the ease in her shoulders was gone.

“You could have let them in,” Keith said. At least, he thought he said it but Pidge didn’t give any sign that she’d heard him as she settled on the edge of the chair. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and Keith wanted to know why she was suddenly so tense.

“I need to know something,” she started and Keith nodded. “Do you know where you are?” Keith stared at her then gave the room a slow scan. The white, blue and grey colour scheme was familiar along with the technological level of the devices along the wall but he couldn’t name where he was. He shook his head.

“Do you know _who_ you are?” she asked and Keith nodded. “Can you tell me?”

“I’m Keith,” he said but again it seemed like she didn’t hear him. Or understand him, maybe, because he was sure his lips moved. And his throat hurt. It took a lot of effort to try and talk. Pidge cursed and turned away to shuffle at- Oh, there was a desk there. She pulled a piece of paper and a pen from somewhere and a few moments later, held up the alphabet to him.

“Can you spell your name for me?” He didn’t particularly want to move anything but if Pidge insisted then fine. Lifting his hand was a struggle that Pidge only needed to see a second of before she cursed again and pressed his hand back to the sheets. “Right, don’t move anything, just nod or shake your head as I point to each letter.” Then her finger tapped under the letter ‘A’ and Keith settled in for the long haul.

He shook his head.

He shook his head 10 times.

Pidge tapped on the ‘K’ and Keith finally nodded. “Kay,” she sounded and Keith nodded again. “Do I continue?” He shook his head and it was back to ‘A’. After he had confirmed ‘E’ and ‘I’, her hand hovered over the paper before it skipped over to ‘T’. Keith nodded and sighed with relief.

“Keith,” she said and Keith was getting tired of moving his head. Pidge set the page aside and reached for his hand as he closed his eyes to rest. Her fingers rested over his wrist and it took him a second to realize she was taking his pulse. When he opened his eyes again though, she was more focused on his face and it made the action seem more habitual than anything else.

“I’m going to let the others in,” she said, “but first I need you to answer one more question.” Keith didn’t want to. He wanted to go back to sleep, the people outside be damned. Pidge’s lips twitched upwards and he could tell she knew exactly how he felt about that. Still, she pressed on. “Do you know how many people are here?”

Keith groaned and rolled his head so it was flat on his pillow. Now he had to _count._

“I know,” Pidge laughed, “but I still need you to answer.” Keith huffed. He was sorely tempted to turn away and ignore her but experience told him that would be a bad idea. He tapped a finger against the side of her hand twice.

“One, two,” she counted.

_You and me._

“Three, four.”

_The big guy and the loudmouth._

“Five, six.”

_The princess and her advisor._

“Seven.”

_Shiro._

Then he frowned. Did she want the mice too? He raised a brow at her as he tapped four beats in quick succession against her hand. She stared at him in surprise then burst out laughing.

“The mice! Yes! Alright, you’re fine,” she decided and Keith stared flatly at her back as she got up and crossed to the door. The banging had stopped but there was still muffled shouting from the other side and as soon as the door opened, the room was suddenly a lot fuller. And louder.

Keith almost regretted waking up.

The big man barreled through first, already crying as he called his name with his arms spread wide and if it weren’t for Pidge, Keith knew he would’ve been lifted right off the bed, wires and tubes be damned. She yanked on the back of his vest and it was enough for him to slow down and reconsider. Instead, Keith was only briefly smothered in what would’ve probably been the best hug ever if it weren’t for the fact that he was unable to participate.

“Hi,” he said into the guy’s shirt before he was released.

“You’re not allowed to do that ever again!” he exclaimed, still holding Keith by the shoulders and if he wasn’t crying, he probably would’ve looked more intimidating. Even still, Keith only nodded as Pidge reached around and tapped the guy’s arm.

“Do you remember his name yet?” she asked Keith and he wasn’t even going to bother trying to talk again. He shook his head.

“What!” Lance shouted as he practically squished himself next to the big guy and pushed Pidge out of the way. Keith didn’t know why his name came to him immediately but it did. “How could you forget Hunk!?” And his hands pressed against the sides of Hunk’s face as if to frame his suddenly heartbroken expression. Then he was yelping and jumping away after Pidge pinched him.

“I said name! He just came out of a coma, you think he’s gonna remember everything?” she scolded as Lance rubbed his arm. “He only just remembered mine!”

“He’s only been out for a week,” Lance argued.

“He doesn’t even know where he is!” Pidge exclaimed and Hunk’s hold on his shoulders tightened before he seemed to remember what he was doing and let go.

“Sorry,” he said and wiped his face as Keith looked up at him, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Keith shook his head and Hunk sighed in relief. “That’s good. It really sucked with you being unconscious, you know, and at first Coran wasn’t even sure you were going to make it and everybody got really scared when the healing pod thing spit you out-”

“Cryo replenisher,” Pidge cut in.

“-but you didn’t wake up,” Hunk continued undeterred, “it really, really sucked. Like, ‘will we have to find a new Paladin?’ sucked because all of your readings were so low and nothing Coran gave you seemed to make it better. Then a couple days ago he ran out of stuff to try on the ship but there was…”

And Keith wasn’t really listening anymore, still stuck on the Paladin title and the corner of his mind that was suspiciously blank. He was a Paladin. He was _the_ _Paladin_ to the Red Lion but that spot where she stayed in the back of his mind was empty. It wasn’t like she had never been there, no, it was too prevalent for that. More like she’d left but forgotten to close the door on her way out.

He needed to find her. He focused on the emptiness, the yawning hole that was like a piece torn away. He focused on what he remembered of Red when she would speak, how her warmth would spread through him with her instructions.

He needed to go back. There was a flash of a forest and a voice; he needed to go back. A desert and the crash of thunder; he needed to go _back._ A jungle and a spring and electric blue eyes; _he needed to go back._

“ _There you are_.”

Keith gasped, loud and ragged, and clenched at the arms that caught him around the middle as he fell. Water splashed around him, its glow quickly dying as the snake-man - _Lance?_ \- was drawn away. He blinked wildly, tried to reorient himself with the jungle and the spring and the spirits as he struggled to get his feet to hold him. And-

“Red!” he burst out and gave up getting his feet to work with him for the moment. Tia held him out of the water as he sagged against his chest and focused on catching his breath. “It has Red! The Mire-” and he started coughing, rough lurches of his lungs that made his throat _ache_ and he leaned forward to try and make it easier.

Tia’s arms shifted, shifted him actually until he could rub along Keith’s back and there was something about the way his fingers pressed against his spine that made the coughing ease. It seemed to dislodge something in his lungs and with a small ounce of regret, he threw it up in the water. Ink black and slimy, it hissed when it hit the surface like a hot pan doused until it dissolved in a thick cloud of steam. Keith couldn’t help the disgust that twisted his face.

“Fuck, that’s gross,” he cleared his throat and let Tia carry him to the edge of the water. The lion man - _who looked eerily like Hunk, actually -_ was helping the snake man on the shore and Keith really needed to come up with something better than that to call them, he was embarrassing himself.

“Come on, drink,” the lion man was urging as he held up the weird cup, but the snake man was pushing it away as he shook his head, lips pressed thin. The lion man made the sound from before, the rolling growl that tapered into a hiss, and that was when Keith recognized it for what it was.

“Wait, wait,” Keith tapped Tia’s arm to be released as the snake man twitched and turned his head away. His throat bobbed as if he was trying to swallow something that just wouldn’t go down. “What did you call him?” Tia lowered him to the ground and though his legs shook as his feet splashed in the ankle deep water, Keith stayed standing. The lion man sighed but he lowered the cup and looked up at Keith.

“We don’t have names in the sense that you do,” he said. “Just broad ideas and emotions that we assign to each other.”

“Right,” Keith nodded, “I got that. What did you call him, though?” And the man’s brow furrowed as his head tilted curiously to the side. Then he repeated the sound and Keith finally heard the undercurrent. He was a diviner, a being of magic and spells for friends to gain aid. He was Guidance, the one who lit the shadows and he was… incomplete. Keith frowned and shook his head.

“There should be more,” he said to the lion man’s widening eyes, “it’s missing something, where’s the rest of it?” And both of them on the shore shared a look though the snake man still refused to open his mouth as he nudged his friend with his elbow. The lion man swallowed as he looked back towards Keith and the next sound he made was similar to the first, just… backwards? And instead of a growl, the sound lowered in his chest until it rumbled into a purr.

The lion man’s name, Keith realized, and again it only gave him part of the whole. He was a healer to those who sought, the gentle hand that soothed and brought life. He was Shelter, the one who shaded the glare of the sun and he was also incomplete.

“I can’t-” Keith shook his head again. “It’s on the tip of my tongue. You guys share a name or two parts of a name, and I can’t get one without the other.”

The snake man lurched to the side and gagged and ink black slime splattered on the dirt along with what looked like a large slug. Keith jerked back on reflex as Tia lunged forward and the slug was crushed under his hand with a pitiful screeching cry. Then the snake man was speaking and even through the rasp that harshened the sounds, Keith understood the meaning.

They were shifters, light and dark and ever changing. They were the ones that lit the shadows and shaded the sun. There wasn’t one without the other, and together they were whole. Shelter and Guidance, healer and diviner, light and dark.

“Yin and Yang.”

They blinked and stared up at him with the same sort of awe that Aurora had back at the beginning. “There can’t be one without the other, you guys just don’t work that way. You’re Yin,” Keith pointed to the snake man whose eyes were glowing faintly the more amazed he got, “and you’re Yang.” The lion man, Yang, gaped up at him but the moment didn’t last when Yin doubled over coughing and when Yang handed him the cup, he didn’t refuse.

“Thanks,” he said, voice rough enough that Keith cringed in sympathy.

“What was that, anyway?” he asked as Yin drank what the cup had to offer. “That slug looking thing. It was… disgusting.”

“That was a leech of the Mire,” Yang told him as Yin gagged again and nearly spit up his water, “vile things that feed off your life force and Tia’s water is the only thing that can kill it if he, um, Yin doesn’t manage to eat it it first.”

The sound Keith made wasn’t gracious by any means and Yin nodded in agreement.

“They’re not my favourite but they make good sacrifices for when the time calls,” he said. He cleared his throat and spit more residue on the dirt. “That one, however, was _nasty_.” He stuck his tongue out in a full body shiver and Keith was inclined to agree.

“Thank you for, um, getting rid of it,” Keith said and Yin waved as he took another long draw from the cup.

“Thank _you_ for naming us,” Yang countered, “you didn’t have to.” Keith shook his head.

“I need you at your best,” he said, “and yeah, part of it was so I would stop calling you guys lion man and snake man in my head but.” He shrugged, slightly apologetic. “You guys said being Named gives power. The Mire has Red and I need your help to get her back.”

They both looked up at him then shared a glance with each other before they turned to Tia. The nod he gave them was confident and Yin took in a bracing breath before he stood.

“Right,” he slapped his hands together to shake the dirt off and wandered a few steps away from the pond, “let’s see if this works, then.” He pressed his hand against a tree and a few moments later, a glowing trail flowed down the bark and into the ground where it lead off into the distance. Yin gaped after it.

“That leads back to the desert?” Keith asked as he came up next to him and Yin nodded. Tentatively, he pulled his hand away and while the glow dimmed, the trail stayed.

“All I’ve been able to make before is a general direction,” he said and he looked at Keith with growing excitement, “it’s never done that far before and it actually _stayed_ .” He looked at his hands then turned back to Yang and Tia, “ _Guys!_ ” The look Tia was giving him was understanding and a little bit teasing and he must’ve said something because Yin flushed to the ears.

Well, Keith called it blushing because there wasn’t really any other way to describe the way the patterns in his scales lit up. It was actually kind of mesmerizing, the way the light shifted ever so gently like sunlight on the ocean floor on a calm day. A smooth back and forth with the currents and-

“And that’s enough of that, I think,” Yang’s voice cut through the haze that had blanketed Keith’s mind as his hands covered his eyes. It was like a splash of cold water and Keith grunted from the shock.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I’m really sorry,” Yin was saying as Yang kept his eyes covered despite him trying to lift his hand away. “This is going to take some getting used to, I’m sorry.” There was a pause and then, “I don’t want to wear clothes!”

“It’s fine,” Keith said, “I’ll just… try not to look at you.” He tried to pry Yang’s fingers away but the man was stronger and Keith huffed as he crossed his arms to wait. Yin was muttering to himself, little half sentences and wordless noises as he tried to work out his ability.

“You’re… not getting any dimmer there, buddy,” Yang pointed out and there was an aggravated sound where Keith knew that Yin stomped his foot again.

“Fine!” he shouted, his voice drawing closer. “Gimme one of your furs then.”

“What? No!” And Keith was jostled as Yang likely turned to dodge Yin’s grasping fingers. “I need mine! Go steal one of Tia’s, he’s not using them.” Keith’s brows jumped up. Tia?

“Tia can shift?” he asked. Yang turned again and Keith’s arms flung out as he nearly tripped over his own foot.

“Sorry, uh, yeah. He’s a panther and since he’s Named he doesn’t really need his furs to shift anymore,” Yang told him.

“Right, okay.” Keith nodded. “Um, Yang?”

“Yeah?” And Keith waited a few seconds to see if he would figure it out himself. Yin apparently didn’t want to wait that long.

“You’re Named, buddy,” he said in an exaggerated whisper.

“Ohhh,” Yang breathed and Keith laughed softly. “Right, um, keep your eyes closed,” he directed and pulled his hands away. Keith obeyed, smiling as he listened to Yang shuffle and Yin continuously urging him to go faster.

“Come on, we’ve got places to be and people to save,” Yin said, “no time for- _Yes!_ ”

“I thought you didn’t want to wear clothes,” Yang pointed out and Keith felt it was safe enough to open his eyes. Yin had his back turned, the largest of Yang’s furs wrapped around his shoulders and he was reaching for one of the many vines hanging from the branches. He tugged it free and stepped back so it didn’t land in a heap on his head.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the limited time I get to wear your glorious mane,” Yin explained. He measured a length then looked over his shoulder, “Can you break this for me?”

“Hold it out,” Yang sighed and laid his hand over the section Yin presented to him. Tia stepped up next to Keith then, a pelt of black fur draped over his shoulders and wrapped around his waist. He was tying a thin eye mask around his neck, grey and black spotted, and Keith noticed a few pieces of moss still  clinging to the sides.

“A panther,” Keith murmured and restrained himself from picking the moss off. “So, you don’t need the fur but it’s good to have?” Tia smiled and nodded. Keith hummed as Tia started stretching out his arms.

“You know, you’re the only one I’ve met that’s been Named,” Keith commented after a moment. Tia looked at him then tilted his head with a half shrug, his smile a little helpless. He raised his mask to his face and a smooth ripple of fur later, Keith was staring at a large black panther as it stretched.

“You’re huge,” Keith gaped and Tia’s ear, level with his eyes, flicked towards him. Yin burst out laughing as he sauntered over. Yang’s fur was tied at the waist by the vine and Yin clamoured up Tia’s side to perch on his back. It made a pretty goofy picture and Keith had to bite his lip and look away to keep from laughing. It brought him face to face with Yang, though, who was shaking out his mane and stood far taller than he had before.

“This is fantastic!” Yin cheered, his arms stretched high. Then he dropped them to pat Tia on the shoulder. “It’s time to get your voice back buddy,” he said then looked at Keith, eyes bright.

“Haul up and hold on tight,” he said, “we’re running this.”

“He’s the size of a horse!” Keith said, loose jawed and Yang threw his head back and laughed. The action displayed his fangs and Keith’s eyes locked on as he took an uneasy step back. His hand came up, either to close Yang’s jaw or just cover it, he wasn’t sure, but Yang turned away before it mattered.

“Climb on,” he said as he crouched low, “It’s time to retrieve your friend.” Keith inhaled sharply then set his jaw and nodded. He swung himself onto Yang’s back and gripped his mane as he rose to his full height. Yin was grinning broadly when Keith looked over and he couldn’t help but return it.

“Let’s go,” he said and leaned forward as Yang bounded through the trees.

_I’m coming for you, Red._

Keith figured running through the jungle was going to be a particularly mind numbing endeavor. All there was were trees, vines, shrubs, and more trees. The air was hazy with humidity and there was a dull hum from the insects that filled the area. The first time his attention wavered, he thought nothing of it.

Occasionally, Yin would say something and Yang would respond, his voice a smooth rumble under Keith. Mostly it was just speculation. What do you think will happen? How strong is the Mire now? Do you think we can win? And each answer was as noncommittal as the last. I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I hope so.

_I hope so._

_“Do you think we’ll ever go home?”_

_I hope so._

The phrase rang in Keith’s mind, repeating in a loop until he felt the brush of Yang’s fur against his face and he bolted upright. Yang’s step faltered and Yin looked over with a concerned frown. Their pace had slowed considerably, no longer the quick jaunt through the trees.

“You can rest,” Yin told Keith as he rubbed fiercely at the corners of his eyes. “You’re still healing.” Keith shook his head, teeth gritted with stubborn determination.

“If I sleep, I might go back and I can’t-” He shook his head again and took a sharp breath, forcing his eyes open wide. “I can’t leave without Red. I won’t.” However, a few paces later, he was struggling to keep his head up and Yin huffed a laugh.

“I don’t think the rest of you agrees,” he said, amusement colouring his tone. Keith groaned, loud with frustration. The edges of Yin’s amused grin softened. “If it worries you that much, Tia will bring you back again if you start fading,” he offered. “We’re not going to let you leave before we face the Mire.”

It was a comfort Keith didn’t think he needed but accepted all the same. “Okay,” he sighed with a nod, and when his eyes grew heavy again, he didn’t fight it.

“Keep up your strength,” Yang rumbled beneath him as he pressed his face into his mane. “Don’t let my work go to waste.”

Keith tried to grunt his acknowledgement but he wasn’t sure if it made it passed the concept stage of his brain. Neither of them asked for clarification, though, so he guessed the message got across. Not that he cared enough anymore. No, every muscle ached and without the fear of going back, Keith could finally relax. Sinking into the embrace of sleep was a lot easier than it had been in a long time.

Dreaming brought the voices back. Soft whispers and murmurs that brushed the edges of his thoughts. It was a conversation that circled around him, rising and falling in waves that Keith could barely comprehend.

_… ill offline…_

_None… ever woke up at all…_

_… come back?_

_I hope so…_

_I hope so._

Keith breathed and drifted.

_I hope so._

He woke up slowly. More naturally than the last few times, really, and Keith was thankful for that. He was laying down, no longer on Yang’s back, and his head was propped on a rolled pelt. He pressed the side of  his face into it and figured it to be Tia’s from the shortness of the fur. How nice.

The conversation was hushed above him. An even back and forth between Yin and Yang and the occasional pause where Tia would speak to Yin. A burst of laughter from Yang startled Keith into full awareness and he chucked the pelt at him in reflex. Aurora’s crown tumbled sideways into the dust.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Yang turned away, still laughing and Keith stared at him with wide eyes and his breath heaving.

“Don’t _do_ that,” he said and flopped on his back to try and control his heart rate. Yang waved while Yin hid his snickering in his hands. Tia leaned over Keith, clearly amused and offered him the cup.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Keith said as he sat up again and accepted it, “they’re not laughing at anything they came up with.” That set Yang off on another round of laughter and Yin started coughing into his arm. Tia only patted him on the shoulder and Keith huffed into the cup as he collected his crown and placed it on his head.

The dying embers of a fire sat between the four of them. It barely lit the collection of desert shrubbery that blocked the south and the single tree that towered above them. Keith squinted at it then down towards the small pool of water north of them. Smaller shrubs led from the edge but there was nothing else aside from dry dirt. Not even a cactus.

Wherever they were, it wasn’t a natural oasis.

He looked towards the sun as it rose over the horizon and burned the sky red. A omen, to be sure. He followed the horizon line to the other side where a storm raged in the distance and turned the sky black. Yin’s trail was still visible in the dust and it ran unerringly in that direction.

“How close are we?” Keith asked as Yang’s laughter died down.

“Hours, at most,” Yin said, “you were out for a while.” Keith’s lips thinned as he scanned the horizon again and nodded. There was no sign of Cierra. There was something else though, low on the horizon in the direction of the storm. Two massive creatures slowly formed out of the shadows. Keith sat up straighter the closer they got.

“What are you looking at?” Yin craned his head and Keith pointed with the hand holding the cup.

“Over there, coming out of the storm. Something’s flying.” Birds, he wanted to say, but even though there was a distinct wing shape, the rest of them was all wrong. His first thought was Aurora but the colour didn’t match and they were far too large.

“Oh, it’s Nice and Rude,” Yang said as he wiped his eyes and Keith’s brows shot towards his hairline.

“They can fly?” He shouted in disbelief as they grew more defined, the browns and yellows standing out. Yang nodded as he turned back towards Keith.

“Yeah,” he said, slightly confused. “You Named them, I thought you knew that.”

Keith shook his head. “I didn’t- I just- The last thing I remember with them is their rain dance. After that, I woke up in your cabin.”

Yang blinked at him, and then something clicked in his mind and he let out a soft ‘oh’ of realization. “You were probably sleep talking,” he said and Keith frowned.

“It makes sense,” Yin hummed and tapped his chin, “there were times where we thought you were awake earlier but you clearly don’t remember that.”

“Ahh, no.” Keith tilted his head as he tried to remember but there was nothing after exhaustion knocked him out. “Did I talk?”

“A lot,” Yang nodded, “though we only understood maybe a third of it.” Keith blinked and looked down at the cup for something to focus on. He wondered if sleeptalking was going to be a thing that carried over.

“I should’ve known it was you,” a voice carried over the distance. “Who else would sit in a new oasis in the desert?”

A quieter, “I told you,” followed after and Keith looked up into the sky. Rude and Nice, Keith realized when he saw the pair swooping in with Rude in the lead.

Yang raised his arm and waved as they landed. Their wings kicked up a cloud of dust that Keith scrunched his face at and while Nice looked vaguely apologetic, Rude was remorseless. They even flapped their wings more than necessary once they’d settled on their feet before they tucked them at their back. Nice smiled and waved to all of them.

They looked like Pidge, Keith realized as Yin gestured for them to sit. Both of them. Everyone, actually, looked like someone he knew. Keith twisted the cup between his hands and rolled the inside of his lip between his teeth. Was there a reason for that or was everything just a figment of his imagination?

Was he imagining the hole where Red should be?

“Here.” Nice set a sack between them as they settled in the circle around the fire pit. There was the tell tale clack of Altean armor and Keith had the sack open and dumped before he even realized what he was doing. The cup had rolled away, water pouring over the dirt, and Tia snagged it before the embers of the fire could light it.

Keith traced the red chevron that blazed across the chest plate, the colour growing stark in the brightening day. There was a fine tremor in his bones and Keith took a deep breath to get it to ease.

“Do you remember what it’s for?” Nice asked as Keith stood and started pulling the pieces on. He handed them the crown in lieu of saying anything and fell into the familiar process of each twist and latch. When the right bracer settled over his wrist, something eased in his chest and he couldn’t stop the grin that surfaced. The only thing that was missing was his helmet.

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron,” he said as his arm swung down to summon his bayard. The weapon formed smoothly, a familiar weight in his hand, and the blade glinted in the rising sun. “And I’m here to take Red back from the Mire.”

As if on cue, a flash lit the sky and both Yang and Tia turned towards the storm. It brought the rest of them to attention and they watched as lightning rolled between the clouds, seemingly endless. Judging from the way they tilted their heads, Yang and Tia could hear every crash of thunder. If Keith focused, he found he could hear it too.

“You’re going into that mess?” Rude balked. They turned back to stared at Keith with wide eyes. “Are you insane? You’re alive! You remembered! You shouldn’t even _be_ here right now!”

“Going in there could kill you,” Nice said as they worried their lip. Keith let his bayard dissolve.

“It’s a risk I’m going to take,” he said. He took the crown back and placed it on his head as he sat down again. “I’m not leaving without her.”

As the sun rose behind them, the storm grew more distinct. There was a contrast between the dark clouds and the sand as it was lit by the day. Keith watched as the front slowly drifted towards them and the breeze that ruffled his hair was cool. Keith frowned.

“We’re going to kill the Mire.” Yin’s stare was determined, also focused on the storm. “This is the best chance that we’ve had in eras. It’s time for the Princess to reign again.” He looked at Yang then around at Tia on his other side. Tia nodded back, shoulders set, and his hands flexed restlessly in his lap.

Rude looked conflicted but Nice took a deep breath and clapped their hands together. The feathers on their wings puffed up and combined with the look on their face, Nice could only be described as a fluffy ball of determination.

“I’m coming with you,” they said and ignored Rude’s squawk of disbelief. Keith blinked at them for a moment before the grin came back full force and Rude groaned into their hands.

“Alright, come on.” Rude sounded resigned as they rose to their feet, Nice following like an unconscious thought. “The Mire is on the cliffs next to Flores. We can guide you through the caves. Let’s go before the sto-”

Lightning flashed across the sky, massive and blinding for an instant. Everyone heard the crack of thunder and felt the ground rumble beneath them. When Keith’s vision cleared, he saw the smouldering splintered trunk of the tree and wondered how the fuck they were all still alive.

“ _Move!_ ” Yang roared and it was Tia that grabbed Keith by the back of his armor when his legs refused to obey. The tree cracked and groaned as it tilted - _it was falling, falling towards them_ \- and it hit the ground with a deafening crash. Sparks and embers flared into the air, caught by the wind as it cut across the desert. Tia was still dragging him away.

“Right, moving time!” Yin was yelling. Keith was suddenly hoisted upwards and he found himself once again on Yang’s back, the man having shifted while he was distracted. Yin clutched him around the waist and held tight to Yang’s mane, nudging for Keith to do the same.

“Can you fly?” Yin shouted above the wind. Rude shook their head, lips thin. They climbed on to Tia’s back as he shifted and pulled Nice up behind them.

“I’m not about to get struck for this fool plan!” They shouted back and nudged Tia with their foot as a signal to get moving. Tia’s ears flicked and his eyes narrowed but he did start running. Yang didn’t need any prompting to follow and they were all racing across the dry dirt, the rising sun at their backs towards the growing storm ahead.

It almost seemed to swallow them. Keith watched as the clouds expanded and lightning lanced across the sky. Despite being in the desert, the wind was cold and the sun didn’t seem to be having any effect.

In the distance, Keith could see the looming shadow of the cliffs, already impossibly tall and the top swallowed by the clouds. More lightning flashed and thundered through the air and Keith blinked away red spots with a grunt.

“Tell me if I’m seeing things, but I think-” Yin didn’t get to finish before another bolt struck the ground in front of them and Yang and Tia veered apart to avoid the charged ground. Keith hissed and gripped Yang’s fur tighter.

“Right, definitely not seeing things!” Yin shouted. “That’s getting redder! Why is it getting redder?” The next strike was far enough away that Keith could finally catch the colour. Red lit the sky and the sand and the resulting rumble of thunder almost sounded like a roar.

Keith didn’t stop the grin.

“Red’s fighting!” he shouted back and leaned low over Yang’s back. “Faster, buddy!” he urged and patted Yang’s shoulder. “Let’s join her!”

Yang roared and Yin whooped and Nice and Rude let out a screeching cry. Keith looked over and met Tia’s eye and with a careful nod of acknowledgement, Tia was striding forward towards victory.

In the caves, there was no light to really separate the clouds of fog from the rest of air. Keith only knew they were approaching the surface when he heard the faint echo of his mother again. Longing tugged at his heart, ancient memories drawn to the surface. But Yang’s hand rested heavy on his shoulder and Yin’s guiding light never wavered.

“What is the Mire?” Keith asked in the uneasy silence. The howling wind was long behind them. Occasionally, they would feel the thunder when it struck close enough.

Yin’s shoulders hunched while Yang sighed deeply. Nice and Rude looked at each other and Nice bit their lip. Tia kept his stare straight. Their steps seemed louder than usual.

“It’s a demon,” Rude said. Quiet, as if afraid the Mire would hear. “Old. One of the First before it got corrupted and fractured.” There was another pause. Keith kept his attention forward.

“What happened?” he asked. He tried not to listen to the haunting tone of his mother’s voice.

“There was a fight,” Nice said, “a great battle that stretched across the realm. The Princess, before the Mire struck her down, tried to lock it away. The Mire cursed her companions before it split her in two and locked half away instead.”

Like a strike of inspiration, Keith remembered the key in the forest and the woman that appeared right after. His pace slowed and Yang nearly stepped on his foot before he staggered to the side.

“Keith?”

Keith frowned and came to a full stop. “What did she look like?” he asked. “Before she fought the Mire, what did she appear as?” He looked at Yang who shrugged and turned to Yin. Yin was already staring at Tia, brow furrowed in concern.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said as Keith watched Tia’s tense shoulders. Tia’s head shifted and Yin blinked before he turned to Keith.

“‘If you’re asking, you already know,’ is what he said,” Yin relayed and Keith took a deep breath.

“And what exactly is the method to setting her free?” He asked. There was the key in the clearing decorated with swirling vines and filigree leaves. It had shimmered in the setting sun, innocent and surreal. Tia slowly turned to face him.

“There is a key,” Yin said, voice tight, “in the heart of the Mire. Tall and gold. It holds her soul while her heart roams free. The Mire guards it vehemently and lures any who draw near as fuel for their power.”

Keith nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. He took a deep breath as he started walking again. He had a feeling he did a lot more than give the Princess a new name.

The pace picked up again. They steadily made their way towards the surface and when tendrils of roots started reaching from the ceiling, Keith knew they were close. The others knew too, he could tell from the tenseness of their shoulders and the pace of their steps. Eager and nervous. Ready to fight.

He didn't need to speak when the cavern opened above them and they emerged in a crevice of large roots and towering trees. Fog drowned out the light and muted the sounds in the distance. He could barely hear the storm.

"Now how do we find it?" Nice asked and Keith didn't know how to answer. It was difficult to think over the voice that sang in the fog. Soft and tempting but Keith knew the truth and he clutched at Yang's arm to keep himself in place.

"We walk," Yin said and followed Tia as he kept going. He looked over his shoulder at Keith. "Do you hear anything?"

"Since the caves," he admitted and Yang's grip tightened on his shoulder. "It's the same as the last time I was here."

"Your mother," Rude said and Keith nodded.

"She's singing. An old song from when I was a child. From before I can actually remember. My father could never sing it," he explained. "It's... hard to focus." Yin and Yang shared a look but they didn't do anything more than that. Keith kept his attention on Yang's grip on him and his own hold on Yang.

The song was getting louder and the fog was getting thicker. Keith hoped it didn't turn out the same way as last time.

Then they got to a point where Yin stopped and cursed and suddenly Yang's pelt was dropped from his shoulders. Even his glow was muted but Keith noticed that it was steadily getting brighter. A growl rumbled through Yang's chest then there was a shift in the song.

It was distorted. Notes were skipped, words left out. Nice and Rude's wings flared.

“Down!" Yang roared and Keith was forced to the ground by Yang's hand that had gone around the back of his neck. Wind cut above them along with a shrieking cry and Keith saw a deep gouge in the bark of a few trees. His eyes went wide.

Tia leaped over them, full panther and full of rage. He was a streak of black through the trees, the fog lifting enough to see and hear through. The Mire shrieked constantly, grating on the ears and spine chilling.

"There!" Yin's arms came up like he was shooting an arrow and a bolt of light shot through the fog to strike what looked like nothing. Then Keith blinked and he saw the form on the ground right before Tia landed on it.

It shifted beneath his claws, incorporeal with barely defined limbs like the light constantly bent around it. And it was large. Equal in size to Tia and pretty equal in power as it thrashed and managed to slip away.

"Are you good?" Yang asked in his ear and it took Keith a second to realize that he was the only one still with him. Nice and Rude had taken to the trees and dogged the Mire's every move. Nice landed next to them for an instant, teeth bared and talons dug into the barely visible body of the Mire before it lashed out with a slice against their cheek. Then it was gone, only trackable by the faint trail of blue from Yin's initial attack.

"Keith," Yang shook him and Keith nodded.

"I'm fine," he assured, "the song is gone, I can't-" He shook his head as he pulled away and rose to his feet. His bayard formed in his hand. "I can fight." Yang nodded and didn't waste anymore time.

Keith turned away as Yang shifted, saw Rude with the Mire barely a step ahead, and lunged. It was like tearing metal, high pitched and ear piercing, and Keith almost lost his grip on his bayard. Then the Mire was gone again, hissing angrily between the trees.

"Come out and fight!" Keith shouted, eyes darting between every flash of blue. Too fast. He couldn't move quick enough. He caught sight of the others each time they almost managed to ground it. Tia with his silent claws. Yang as he batted it out of the air. Rude and Nice as they pinned it between themselves. But each time, it slipped away like oil on water. The only one he hadn't seen yet was Yin.

Keith's eyes narrowed. Where was he?

"Yin!" he shouted and the air shimmered next to him.

"I'm here," Yin said, voice quiet as he melted into view. Yang's pelt was back over his shoulders to hide his glow.

"It's too fast." Keith turned as he followed the Mire with his eyes. The corner of Yin's mouth quirked up and he melted back into the air.

"Follow me," his voice whispered and his footsteps appeared on the ground. Keith hesitated. He turned on his heel when one of the trees shook and the Mire shrieked alongside Yang's roar. It splintered and cracked and the two were gone before it crashed to the ground.

"They have it distracted," Yin murmured in his ear. "This way." Keith pursed his lips and followed Yin's steps. He was too slow. If Yin had another way to help, he’d take it.

Yin was quick as he moved through the trees, steps light and barely visible and there was an instant where Keith swore Yin went left before he felt the touch on his arm.

"Over here," Yin murmured over the harsh echo of another tree falling. Keith bit back a curse and hurried after. The trees were thinning, he noticed, growing further apart. Then they seemed to disappear into the fog altogether and Keith's heart leaped to his throat.

"Relax." Yin melted into view again, hands glowing as he crouched and pressed a palm against the dirt. Keith blinked and took another look around. The trees were still there, just faint shadows under the blanket of fog. A clearing. Keith swallowed hard and gripped his bayard tighter.

"What do I do?" he asked and Yin looked up at him through his fringe. The glow of his eyes was bright but Keith didn't feel the haze of hypnosis at the edge of his mind. Yin didn't lift his hand from the ground.

"You call Aurora," Yin said. His eyes flicked upwards, towards the crown on Keith's head and Keith slowly reached up to take it off. The feather fluttered against the petals of the flowers, all somehow still fresh. Keith ran his fingers along the edge of the lily and remembered the woman that made it. A leader and defender, trying to protect her people. And if Tia was right, she also the woman that came from the key.

Keith's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth but the wind shifted and instinct had Keith dropping the crown and twisting with his bayard up. The Mire shrieked in his face, heavy against his sword and he didn’t see the claws before they swiped over his brow.

He gasped out and staggered back and Keith knew it wasn't sweat that dripped down the side of his face. The sound the Mire made was almost triumphant as it retreated to a safer distance, form shifting and writhing under the blue glow of Yin's tag. Red tipped one of its claws and it turned ink black as it spread up its arm. It seemed to shrink, dripping ink as it lost mass and slowly became more visible.

The ink spread up to shape its head and when yellow eyes opened, Keith's breath hissed between his teeth. He adjusted his grip on his bayard and lunged forward with a shout. With each attack, the Mire dodged, still quick but not nearly as fast as before. Ink continued to drip and fall away to slowly reveal the Mire's new form.

Humanoid in shape, with arms and legs that lashed between Keith's strikes and a mouth that stretched to bare pointed teeth. Truly demonic if Keith had any choice in descriptors. The eyes seemed to laugh at him with each pass of his blade and when he managed a slash against the creature’s chest, the ink tore away like fabric.

Ice raced through his veins and his next attack was a flurry of uncoordinated panic that the Mire quickly overpowered and returned. It left Keith on the defensive, struggling to block and parry each blow as he took in the new face of the Mire. Keith wanted to put it back. He wanted to replace the black that dripped off his blade so he didn’t have to see the face that he had uncovered.

Because despite the eyes and the teeth and the way it twisted with the Mire’s sick glee, Keith knew that face as intimately as he knew his own. It was like looking in a mirror, one that twisted reality and showed the viewer a nightmare instead of a dream. In his distracted horror, Keith was sent flying to the other side of the clearing with a twist and a sharp kick to his chest.

The Mire cackled, its laugh a warped mimicry of Keith’s own voice. Keith never wanted to hear it again. He rolled to his feet just in time to dodge Galran claws and went to counter, but his sword was caught by its other hand. With a harsh tug that twisted Keith’s still healing shoulder, his bayard was tossed away into the fog.

He couldn’t even follow where it went, too busy trying to dodge the feral swipes of a Galran version of himself. And the Mire didn’t take its advantage lightly. It knew it had Keith in its grasp by the victorious glint in its eye. Prey that had managed to escape once more in its trap. Fear bit Keith in the heart and he found his weakened leg staggering under the weight.

The Mire’s grin stretched impossibly wider, victory in its claws, and for an instant, Keith saw death.

Then Keith was on the ground and the Mire was rolling away under the furious weight of Nice and Rude. They tore into it with a flurry of talons and feathers while the Mire screeched its outrage. Keith gasped as he rolled to his side, relief leaving him shaking and he watched with wide eyes as the Mire struggled to escape.

“Keith!” Yin hissed sharply but he was once again invisible. Keith’s eyes darted around what he could see through the fog as he pulled himself up until he caught sight of the flower crown spinning through the air. Aurora!

“ _Please_!” he begged as he caught it out of the air. He thought of the bird-like girl that had shown him kindness and the woman that they had summoned in the desert. He thought of Tia, the only one who seemed to know Aurora from before. He thought of Nice and Rude, Yin and Yang, people that had only lived under the Mire’s rule. And Keith thought of the rest of the people that lived unknowing of the past. He clutched the crown tight, crushing some of the leaves and petals beneath his fingers.

Tia and Yang came bounding out of the trees from opposite sides, teeth bared as the Mire finally broke free. It hissed and lashed out but its new form was hardly a match for all four of them. Yang caught it around one arm while Tia's fangs buried deep in its shoulder. For a moment, Keith thought they had gotten it.

But then its eyes flashed white and they were all forced back, teeth, claws and talons ripped away in a spray of black. Keith held his breath.

" _Help us_."

The vines warmed under his palms. The Mire crouched low as the others picked themselves up. Anger curled its lip, yellow eyes narrowed. Keith stood his ground. Tia lunged and the Mire bolted forward, directly for Keith. Keith grinned.

In a roar of thunder and a flash of red, a stallion rose before him. He towered as he stood on his hind legs, kicking out at the Mire as it very quickly realized it made a mistake. Its eyes went wide and its jaw dropped right before the stallion's hoof kicked under its chin. Keith couldn't stop the vindictive grin as he watched the Mire ragdoll backwards.

The stallion snorted as it dropped back to all fours, red-orange tail flicking and head shaking with its ears pinned back in anger. The crown dissolved in Keith's grip, power expended and Keith couldn't really be disappointed at the loss. The stallion galloped forward, ready to stomp the Mire into the ground.

Keith released the breath he had been holding. Time to find his bayard. A red glow sparking like fire at the edge of the clearing caught his eye and Keith bolted for it. His bayard was practically lit and when he wrapped his hand around the grip, a familiar purr rumbled in the back of his mind.

"Red," He breathed, eyes wide. The purring intensified and Keith grinned. "Welcome back, girl."

" _Keith!_ " Yin's voice cried out a warning and Keith turned on his heel, sword forming in a flash of red. The Mire was in the air, teeth bared and claws reaching. Keith snarled back.

“ _That’s not me!_ ” Keith thrust his bayard forward and the air cracked like glass. He glared at the twisted version of himself frozen on the other side, its expression shocked beneath the outrage. Keith’s lip curled and he shoved his blade deeper. Black seeped from the edges and ran down his blade.

“It will never be me.”

The world shattered in shards of blue, Yin's spell finally complete, and the Mire shattered with it. Its shriek of agony echoed through the forest until Keith was left staring at empty air, his breath heavy with the speed of his heart.

He staggered backwards as he looked around the clearing, unsteady on his feet. Already the fog was lifting, the air brightening as the sun finally filtered through. Yin stared at him from the center, eyes wide and jaw loose as he also tried to catch his breath.

“Holy shit,” he gasped as he dug trembling fingers into the dirt. His arms shook from the effort of keeping himself upright. “Is that it? Did we really just-” Keith saw the point where he wavered. Yin’s eyes fluttered, glow non-existent, and when he pitched forward, Keith lunged to try and catch him.

Nice and Rude got there before he did, shouting wordlessly as they caught Yin by the shoulders. Keith dropped in front of him and his bayard dematerialized in a flash as he reached out and took Yin’s face between his hands.

“Hey, _hey_!” Keith tapped the side of Yin’s face and the man groaned as he pulled his head to the side. His markings flickered before they went dull, barely even shining in the growing light.

“I’m good,” Yin moaned but he didn’t put any effort in holding himself up. He still sagged heavy in the twins’ hold. Keith frowned.

“Yin!” Yang shouted across the clearing as he ran over. A gash bled sluggishly over his left shoulder, soaking into his fur and down his leg. Yin barely managed to open his eyes before Yang came up behind him and shoved his nose against the side of his face. Nice squawked and their wings flared in order to keep their balance.

“Easy,” they admonished and pressed a hand against Yang’s neck. There was a moment where Keith was sure Yang was going to knock them over before he reluctantly backed away. Nice went with him, a hand digging through their belt and coming out with a cloth.

“Where’s that cup Tia had?” they asked as they focused on blotting most of the blood away. “We need to clean this.”

"He should still... um," Keith raised his head over the group but he couldn't see Tia. He looked around the clearing, even behind him, but he couldn't find the panther anywhere.

"Tia?" he called. He scanned the tree line, hoping to catch him between the gaps, but there was nothing. No movement and no sounds.

_“Keith, I swear to fuck, if you don’t wake up there are gonna be words.”_

Keith gasped as his heart skipped a beat and pain lanced through his head. The trees blurred together for an instant. The next second Rude was gripping the top of his chest plate as his feet slipped out from under him.

“What the fuck was that?” they burst out as Keith shook his head and blinked away the haze.

“I don’t-” He closed his eyes as the world swam out of focus again. “I don’t know.”

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Yin slurred and Rude cursed in their effort to keep them all upright.

“The human’s crashing hard,” they answered anyway. “Fix it.”

_“Keith.”_ That was… That was Shiro.

“They’re trying to bring me back,” he gasped and Rude’s hold tightened to the point that Keith was jerked forward. He choked a bit, the throbbing made worse for a moment before it eased. Yin’s clawed hand fumbled against his arm before it latched onto his shoulder and pulled him closer. Keith groaned as he tried to pull away.

“I can’t go back yet,” he protested. “We need to find Tia. Gotta free Aurora.”

“We can do that,” Nice said. There was a shuffle of cloth and the trembling in Yin’s hand eased. “It’s time for you to go home.”

“Keith.”

_“Keith.”_

Yin shook his shoulder. Keith looked at him through squinted eyes. The electric glow was back and Keith groaned out his protest as he squeezed his eyes shut again.

“Look at me, Keith.” Yin kept shaking him. “Go to them. We’ll take care of the rest.”

_“We’re all waiting for you.”_

Keith swallowed thickly and cracked one eye open again. The smile Yin gave him made him open the other. Wide and welcoming, it let Keith relax into his hypnotizing gaze.

“Rest, Keith,” Yin said and Keith nodded with a sigh.

“You look like Lance, did you know?” He murmured and the corner of Yin’s mouth hiked up into a smirk.

“God, I hope so ‘cause it’d be really weird if I didn’t.” Keith sucked in a quick breath and blinked - _or did he just open his eyes?_ \- to see that the trees had disappeared and he was back in the room on the ship. Lance leaned on the edge of the bed, his chin propped on his crossed arms. Pidge shifted where she sat behind his legs.  Hunk leaned over from his perch on the desk. Allura and Coran looked up from the hollow pad they were discussing and Shiro loomed over Lance’s shoulder before he crouched next to him.

Lance’s smirk widened into a face splitting grin.

“Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time ever doing something like this and I gotta say, I had a blast! Thank you to the amazing [inkforwords](https://inkforwords.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for picking up on my idea, I couldn't have asked for a better artist. If you want to see more, her art blog is [here](https://inkforwordsart.tumblr.com). I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing!
> 
> If you want to see more of me, my main is [here](https://glyphsss.tumblr.com) and my creativity side is [here](https://glyphhunter.tumblr.com).


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